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18May10 Tips for Filming Interviews

At Enterprise Screen we'd like to say that we've got a formula down to producing the perfect video. We're going to share some of our basic tips for filming interviews with you here in this article.

INTERVIEWING

1. Plan and Prepare

Before filming even commences, it is important to have planned and prepared for the interview. It is useful to prepare questions and to give these to your interviewee well in advance of filming to allow them time to familiarise themselves with the questions and prepare some answers.

2. Friendly relations

Establishing a good relationship with the interviewee is important. Not everyone is comfortable in front of the camera so make sure the interviewer can put your interviewee at ease.

3. Confidence and making the most of your interview

An effective interviewer is confident, clear, conversational and they should have a strong sense of direction in mind. The interview questions should be thorough and where appropriate, any interesting points raised in the interviewee's answers should be followed up with further questions in order to get the most out of the interview.

4. Clear answers

Asking the interviewee to incorporate the question into the opening sentence of their answer helps to introduce the topic and often helps the editor in post-production.

FILMING THE INTERVIEW

There are some simple measures you can take to make sure that the interview looks professional and creates a pleasing aesthetic.

5.Use a tripod

Tripods keep your shot steady and still. This looks much more professional than a shaky handheld camera.

6. Headroom

Make sure there is a little bit of space above the interviewee's head when you are framing your shot. Too much or too little can make your interview look cut-off or too far away.

7. Framing interviewees

Frame your interviewee to one side of the frame, looking off screen at the interviewer.

8. Wear solid colours

Advise your interviewees to wear solid colours during their interview as some patterns such as close checks and stripes can cause an unwanted and distracting effect on the camera.

9. Look great, feel great

Many people worry about looking bad on camera. To make your interviewee feel more confident, ask that they come looking their best; well dressed and groomed. Feeling smart and tidy not only helps the interviewee feel at ease but it ensures that your interview will look smart on camera.

10. Avoid cluttered backgrounds

Simple backgrounds work best. After all, the focus should be on the subject, not the background.

These 10 simple tips can help transform an unsteady, untidy interview into one looking much more professional. There are many different ways to shoot interviews but these are just our simple tips for a traditional, professional interview set-up. Experiment when filming, try different angles, backgrounds and set-ups. Sometimes outside-of-the-box thinking can turn a simple interview into one much more exciting, but we wouldn't give away all of our secrets!